All His Hopes and Dreams
by The Durdens Wrath
Summary: Xander and Giles are flung into a world where they finds everything that their hearts have always wanted. Status Update: Discontinued. Look for a more consistent version called All His Hopes and Dreams: Renegade Edition. Left up for Archival purpose.
1. PART I - What if you found a portal to a...

TITLE: All His Hopes and Dreams  
  
AUTHOR: Stone Cold   
  
DISCLAIMER: Is this really necessary? I mean if anyone who might think of suing me thinks that I own any of these characters, they are either seriously deluded, or have been living in a cave somewhere the last four years. But anyway, the dance continues. Joss, the WB Network, and Mutant Enemy own all the characters of the Buffyverse. The Sliders are property of... Well, I guess the Sci-Fi channel.  
  
CLASSIFICATION: BtVS/Sliders X-Over. Buffy/Xander romance.  
  
ARCHIVES: Ask me first. I just like to know where my stuff is, but I love to have it in as many places as possible.  
  
SUMMARY: Xander gets flung into a world where he finds everything that his heart has always wanted.  
  
FEEDBACK: I love feedback... in fact, I thrive on it. Flames are accepted, unless it has to do with the Buffy/Xander pairing.  
  
  
PART I - "What if you found a portal to a parallel universe?"  
  
"You know Giles, there are times when it really sucks to be living on the Hellmouth."  
  
Giles look at Xander incredulously. "Only times, Xander?"  
  
Xander chuckled grimly as he and Giles patrolled down the main thoroughfare of Sunnydale Cemetery. "OK, let me rephrase Giles. There are times when it sucks WAY more than other times. And tonight is definitely one of those times."  
  
Giles lowered his crossbow cautiously so he could remove his glasses and clean them. "Indeed Xander. It seems as though vampire activity has increased at an alarming rate of late. That is why we have Buffy and Angel patrolling on the other side of the cemetery." After replacing his glasses, Giles raised his crossbow and resumed his careful lookout for vampires.  
  
Xander looked at Giles with a bit of trepidation. "No offense to your vampire killing ability Giles, but I really hope all the vampires decide to run like lemmings to Buffy and Angel."  
  
Giles let down his stoic exterior to look at Xander. "To be truthful, so do I."  
  
*****  
  
"Why does it seem that all the really easy slides go sour only minutes before the timer runs out?"  
  
Maggie Beckett ran side by side with Quinn Mallory, glancing behind them every few seconds to see how far behind them their pursuers were. "I've got a better question! Just what the hell are those things chasing us?"  
  
Rembrandt Brown was taking up the rear, running and carrying an injured Collin Quinn. "Those 'things' are vampires Maggie."  
  
The group slowed as they neared a large oak tree in the center of the cemetery, their pursuers seemingly off their trail. Feeling safe for the time being, Remmy laid Collin down to find out exactly why he was unconscious.  
  
Maggie bent down beside Collin and stroked his forehead, while Quinn stood guard over them. "Remmy, how on earth could you believe that those 'things' were vampires? Vampires don't exist!"  
  
"Then how do you explain this?" Rembrandt pulled the collar of Collin's shirt apart to reveal two distinct bite marks along his jugular. "Q-Ball and me have seen vampires before! Remember that world where they tried to make Wade one of their own Q-Ball?"  
  
A shadow passed over his face as he remembered their captured friend. "Yeah Remmy, but those vampires seem tame compared to these guys. It's a good thing we lost them."  
  
Quinn got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and turned around to find the six vampires that were following them. "You WISH you had lost us human!"  
  
*****  
  
Xander and Giles were nearing the completion of their patrol zone as they neared the large oak tree. "I'll have to say Giles, I can't remember the last time we had such a quiet patrol. Looks like all the vamps decided to take the night off."  
  
Suddenly a scream pierced the night air. "Xander, we must really have a talk about your timing. You have this verbal knack of making a bad situation worse."  
  
Xander at least had the decency to look ashamed as he pulled out his cross and stake. "Well Giles, once more into the fray good sir?"  
  
Giles smiled briefly at Xander's comment as they rushed toward the scream.  
  
*****  
  
Buffy and Angel were just finishing up their area of patrol and were headed toward the rendezvous point walking hand in hand, when they heard the same scream that Xander and Giles had heard. They dropped each other's hand and began to run toward the oak tree to see that Giles and Xander were already on the scene. Right after Buffy saw Giles eliminate one of the vampires with a crossbow bolt, she heard scuffling right behind her. She whirled around to find Angel fighting off two vampires with another two moving towards them. Looks like Giles and Xander are on their own. I hope they'll be all right, but I can't let anything happen to Angel!   
  
*****  
  
Remmy looked worriedly up at Quinn, who was holding their timer. "How much time we got until we slide Q-Ball?"  
  
Quinn shook his head slowly. "About forty-five seconds Remmy. But I get the feeling that we won't last that long. Not nearly that long."  
  
Suddenly, one of the vampires moving in on their position turned to dust. Quinn and Maggie quickly turned around to see Giles reloading his crossbow and Xander running towards them cross in hand. "Need some help guys?"  
  
Remmy looked up at the teenager who was barely keeping the vampires from overrunning them with his cross. "Man, are we glad you showed up! We just need to keep these guys off of us for about another twenty-five seconds!"  
  
"What happens in twenty-five seconds?" Giles asked as he ran up, discarding his crossbow in favor of the cross he had pulled out. "I certainly hope that in twenty-five seconds you have some means of getting us out of here, because the crossbow broke after that one shot." Xander looked at him with a pained expression. "Not to mention that the cavalry seems to have been delayed indefinitely."  
  
"Well, we'd be glad to help you out of this jam, I'm just not sure you'll really like how we plan on doing it." Quinn looked down to the timer as the numbers counted down to ten seconds.  
  
"Hey guy, whatever you can do, we'd be appreciative! 'Cause these crosses won't hold these vamps off forever!" Xander looked around for the fifth vampire, who he was sure was right in front of him just a second ago.  
  
"Here goes nothing! 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..." As soon as the timer reached zero, Quinn activated the device and opened the wormhole. Shortly thereafter, Rembrandt carried the injured Collin through the vortex. "You guys coming?"  
  
Giles watched Maggie jump through the vortex, leaving only him, Xander, four stunned vampires, and the stranger holding the device. "What choice do we have?"  
  
Quinn smiled at Giles. "Don't worry, we'll get you back here, trust me!" Taking advantage of the stunned vampires, the three men jumped into the wormhole. Only a heartbeat after it closed behind the retreating form of Xander, the missing fifth vampire landed on his face in the space the vortex once occupied.  
  



	2. PART II - A whole new world.

PART 2 - "A whole new world."  
  
Buffy and Angel returned to the library to find Willow and Oz snuggled together in a chair, a book of Wiccan lore open in Willow's lap. With the swinging of the door being opened, Willow and Oz looked up with a start, and were even more shocked with Buffy's demeanor.  
  
Buffy was leaning against Angel, as if he were the only thing holding her up. Her eyes looked hollow, like all the life had been taken out of her. Willow leaped off her perch on Oz's lap and came over to help Angel get Buffy into a seat.  
  
Once Angel and Willow were sure that she was secure in the seat, they let go of her. She immediately began to rock back and forth, mumbling something over and over. Willow bent over to listen to what Buffy was saying. What she heard both confused and frightened her.  
  
"They're gone... Oh God... They're gone... It's all my fault... They're gone..."  
  
*****  
  
The first thing that Xander saw after jumping through that blue vortex was the ground rushing rapidly toward his face. "Oomph!" A few seconds later, another body landed next to him, and judging by the plethora of British sounding curse words, he figured it was Giles. Another few seconds later, the man who had opened the vortex helped him to his feet. "Are you all right?"  
  
Xander stretched a little and rubbed his face. "Yeah, I think so. So you guys do this often?"  
  
Quinn chuckled. "Yeah, for about the last three years now. But don't worry, my landing was even more graceful than yours was! I'm Quinn Mallory."  
  
Xander took his hand and shook it. "I'm Alexander Harris. But my friends and the people that save my ass, call me Xander." Xander nodded his head toward Giles. "That serious looking British guy all decked out in tweed is Rupert Giles. We just call him Giles."  
  
Remmy was still tending to Collin when he spoke up. "I'm Rembrandt 'Crying Man' Brown. Q-Ball over there and the gang just call me Remmy. This here with the vampire bite is Quinn's brother Collin."  
  
Maggie looked around once to check for possible threats, when she decided that it was safe enough for an introduction. "I'm Maggie Becket. I used to be a Marine before I joined these guys and became a Slider."  
  
After hearing that Collin had a vampire bite, Giles rushed over to aid Remmy in his care. After a few moments inspection he sighed in relief. "Your brother should be fine Mr. Mallory, the vampire wasn't able to fully drain him. Nor apparently was it able to make him drink any of its blood either. He just needs a little time to recover. Now, where are we? And just what was that thing we jumped through?"  
  
"Well, as for the where we are. That's really hard to determine, if you can at all. All I can tell you with certainty is that this is a parallel Earth. "  
  
Xander scratched his head and looked around. "A parallel Earth? But, this looks EXACTLY like the place we just left." Giles looked up at the moon, and chimed in. "And judging by the position of the moon, it appears to be the same time."  
  
Quinn nodded at the two. "Most of the time, a parallel world is completely different from the world that you are familiar with. But every once in a while, you'll come across a world that is almost exactly like your home world, but with a few minor exceptions. It seems that there are quite a few parallel Earth, perhaps numbering in the thousands."  
  
Xander looked like his head was about to explode. "So how do you get from Earth to Earth?"  
  
Remmy chuckled and looked at Xander. "I'll field this one Q-Ball, I know how the kid feels, I was exactly the same way the first time I slid. It's like this Xander. Q-Ball over there invented this gadget that, in a lot of big science words, opens a gate between two Earths. We call it 'Sliding'. The only problem is, you have to wait until the timer on that do-dad there reaches zero to open another gate."  
  
Xander still looked a bit confused, but accepted everything that was said. "So how long until we can 'slide'? And can you get up back home?"  
  
Quinn smiled and nodded again at Xander. "Absolutely, I have your home world coordinates stored here. All we have to do is wait for the timer to count down to zero, just like Remmy said." He looked down at the timer. "Which should be in about twelve days."  
  
Little did anyone realize that at that very moment a figure dressed in all black was silently advancing on the group, nearing close enough that it could now listen in on the conversation.  
  
Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them, something he did when he felt things spinning out of his control. "So Mr. Mallory, what happens if the counter reaches zero and we don't 'slide'?"  
  
Quinn was about to answer when the figure jumped out of the shadows. "Giles? What are you doing out here?"  
  
Everyone was startled by the appearance of the newcomer. Only Giles and Xander relaxed once they realized who it was. However, Giles didn't have an explanation handy so he decided to wing it. "Well, Um... B- Buffy... You see..." He, of course, wasn't doing a very good job at winging it, which didn't matter anymore as Buffy had shifted her attention elsewhere.  
  
Her eyes grew wide as she walked towards Xander. He smiled at her, and saw something in her eyes that he never thought he'd see there. At least, not directed towards him. Before he could react to that, however, Buffy reached her hand up to his face, and began to caress it lovingly. She spoke in a barely audible whisper. "You're alive." Xander didn't have time to reply, because she leaned up and wrapped her arms around his head and began to kiss him slowly and passionately.  



	3. PART III - A kiss isn't just a kiss.

PART III - "A kiss isn't just a kiss."  
  
As Giles looked on in complete surprise, Buffy continued to kiss Xander deeply, slowly moving her lips over his. After rather quickly getting over his initial shock, Xander placed his hands on Buffy's waist and drew her body to him, virtually eliminating any space between them. Buffy kissed him with a mixture of love and desperation, oblivious to everything but Xander's body pressed against hers. Unfortunately, the need to breathe overcame them both, and Buffy reluctantly broke the kiss, but not before sucking seductively on Xander's lower lip.  
  
Still in shock, Giles leaned over to Quinn and spoke in hushed tones. "I... I see what you mean about those small differences."  
  
Quinn turned away from Xander and Buffy, the latter having buried her face into Xander's neck, and faced Giles. "You mean it isn't like that on YOUR Earth?"  
  
Giles smiled slightly. "Not even close. On our Earth, Buffy and Xander are merely good friends, and that is as far as their relationship has gotten. I believe that is probably NOT the case on this world. But, I am quite certain that you'll have no complaint from Xander on that count."  
  
While Giles and Quinn conversed, Xander was reveling in the feel of having just kissed Buffy Summers, and having her subsequently snuggle herself into his arms. I like this world already! Remind me to thank Quinn for letting us tag along. Xander's pleasant reverie was abruptly broken by the sound of Buffy softly sobbing. Xander pulled back a bit from her to look at her face, and was stunned to see tears streaking down her face. Xander leaned forward and gently kissed a few of the tears away as he brought his hands up to cup her face. He brushed away the rest of the tears streaming down her face gently with his thumbs. "Buffy?" Xander was overwhelmed by the intense sadness he saw as she lifted her eyes to meet his. "Buffy, it tears me apart inside to see you so sad. Please tell me why you're crying."  
  
Buffy leaned her face against Xander's tender caress. "I thought I had lost you... I was so afraid that I'd lost you..." The sadness in Buffy's eyes was slowly replaced by a warm and loving gaze, one that he'd only seen her give to someone else on his world, but never this intense. "But, you're alive... you're alive..." As if to reassure herself, she placed a tender kiss on the side of his neck, and snuggled into his embrace once more.  
  
Giles was at a complete loss at how to handle this situation with Buffy. Obviously, on this world she had an intense and loving relationship with Xander. The problem was that the Xander she was with right now was not who she thought he was. And since it was quite apparent that Xander was not going to voice any protest, it was up to him to be the adult. So he cleared his throat quite loudly.  
  
Buffy slowly turned herself in Xander's arms so that her back was pressed against his chest, making sure that she remained in physical contact with him at all times. Uncertain of where he should place his hands exactly, Xander did what came naturally and wrapped his arms around her, letting his hands rest on her stomach. To his surprise, he found only bare skin. Oh GOD! Buffy's wearing one of her belly shirts... This night just keeps getting better and better. She craned her head slightly to smile her approval at him, and pecked him on the lips before covering his arms with her own.  
  
With every second that his Xander and the Buffy of this world were together, Giles's anxiety grew. Oh dear. When it rains it pours. Several things are apparent here. One, Buffy is madly and deeply in love with Xander. Two, something terrible has happened to her Xander, which seemed to cast her into a deep despair. Three, Buffy has mistaken our Xander for the missing Xander, her Xander, without reservation. Four, I fear for her when she discovers that she has found Xander only to lose him again when the truth is revealed. Giles smiled slightly though at the couple that Xander and Buffy made, and how right it seemed for her to look at him with love in her eyes. Unfortunately, this only strengthened his resolve to take the course of action he had chosen. I hate to do this, but I feel that the longer the truth is hidden from her, the more damage it will do to her. "Buffy is your patrol for the evening done for the night?"  
  
Buffy slowly tore her gaze from Xander and regarded Giles curiously. "Are you OK Giles? I just started my patrol. In fact, I left you in the library to begin my patrol not ten minutes ago." She slowly traced her fingernails across Xander's arm as she talked with Giles. "By the way, how DID you get here ahead of me?" She looked suspiciously at Giles, then noticed the four other people gathered around them. "And just who are these people?"  
  
Giles sighed softly, fearing that he was in for a LONG night. "Perhaps we should retire to the library. We can sort everything out there."  



	4. PART IV - And the truth shall set you f...

PART IV - "And the truth shall set you free."  
  
Even since Buffy had laid eyes on Xander in the cemetery, she hadn't left his side for a single second. After a few minutes of walking, they were in sight of the high school, Xander walking with his arm wrapped tightly around Buffy as if he had shared this intimacy with her all his life. Giles followed behind them, a pained look on his face anticipating the events of the next few minutes. And the sliders took up the rear, casually discussing the mundane details that followed an arrival on a parallel world.  
  
As they walked, Xander leaned down to gently kiss Buffy on the forehead, which warranted one of Buffy's bright full-teeth smiles. She leaned up in mid-stride to nibble teasingly on Xander's earlobe. Xander couldn't believe what happened next as she let go of his earlobe with a final suck and whispered into his ear. "I love you Xander Harris."  
  
Xander stopped walking, completely taken aback by what he had just heard, almost causing an equally stunned Giles to run straight into them. Buffy looked at Xander with the same curious expression that she had given Giles in the cemetery. "What is it Xander? You look like you'd never heard those words before." Buffy sauntered up to Xander with a sexy smile on her face. She reached up her finger to trace over Xander's lips. He smiled and kissed her finger tenderly. "I promise you this Xander, I'm not going to let a second go by without you knowing how much I love you." She punctuated this with a sweet kiss, one that carried so much promise for the future.  
  
Xander and Giles both felt their hearts about to burst simultaneously, but for different reasons. Giles's heart felt as a father does for a beloved daughter when he knows that she is on a collision course with heartache. Xander, however, felt as someone does who has had their ever want and need in the palm of their hand, only to have it pour out like so many grains of sand. He knew that once Buffy found out that he wasn't her Xander, not only would she drop him like a bad habit, but he knew that the knowledge she was about to gain would erase every bit of hope she had of ever seeing her Xander again. More than anything, he was afraid that would be the breaking point for her. He hoped to God that she could withstand losing 'him' again.  
  
A few minutes later, the group was winding their way through the halls of Sunnydale High School. The shock and surprise were evident on the faces of everyone in the library as Buffy walked in, arm in arm, with Xander. But, the looks on their faces when Xander walked in, was nothing compared to when Giles walked in the room. Buffy saw the looks on their faces and turned to see Giles entering. She turned back to the occupants of the library with a perplexed look on her face. "What IS it with everyone tonight? You guys look like you've never seen Giles before in your life." It was just then that she took a second look at who was in the library. Willow, Oz, Cordelia, and Giles were all seated around the main table. Wait just a second! Giles is at the table? Then who the hell is this guy behind me?   
  
Giles sighed as he saw Buffy do a double take, and once again as she shifted glances between the two Giles's all the while moving an equal distance from each of them. Xander shot a poignant look to his Giles as Buffy snuggled closer to him to seek some semblance of normalcy. "Will someone tell me just WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Xander instinctively kissed the top of her head as the Slayerettes looked at each other in confusion, as they were obviously out of the loop.  
  
Quinn Mallory stepped through the door and surveyed the situation. "Perhaps I can shed some light on this situation." Everyone native to this world seemed to relax a bit knowing SOMEONE knew what was going on. However, Giles and Xander inwardly cringed, knowing what was to come. "If everyone would gather around the table here, I'll be more than glad to explain everything."  



	5. PART V - ... but will the truth tear yo...

PART V - "... but will the truth tear you apart?"  
  
Author's Note: To avoid confusion when the Giles's are together, the Giles from the parallel world will be referred to as P-Giles, and the Giles from the main world will be X-Giles.  
  
As everyone gathered around the table to listen to Quinn's explanation for all the weirdness going on, Willow realized that there weren't enough chairs for everyone. Ushering Xander to a seat, Buffy waited until he'd sat down before curling herself up in his lap. After trailing a line of kisses down his throat she made a suggestion to alleviate some of the seating problems. "How about all of the couples sit together? That way we'll have a couple of extra seats." Willow and Oz quickly agreed and snuggled together in a single chair. Following suit, Buffy snuggled deeper into Xander's arms, his hands naturally stroking the bare part of her back right above her waistline. Buffy purred her consent and whispered her love into Xander's ear.  
  
It was all Xander could do to keep from returning the sentiment to Buffy. It wouldn't be fair to her to tell her how I feel. I'm not her Xander... Well, not technically. And after Quinn gets done I'll be lucky if she's still talking to me at all. Funny how her not being my Buffy doesn't even impact how I feel. It's like all my heart needs to know is that she's Buffy. And that means that I love her, no matter what world she's on.   
  
While Buffy and Xander were getting cozier in their seat, the others were chuckling good-naturedly about Buffy's obvious motive for the seating arrangements. Everyone, that is, except for the two Giles's. X-Giles was preoccupied with the repercussions of the bomb Quinn was going to drop, while it seemed that P-Giles was holding the key to a devastating secret of his own.  
  
Once everyone was seated, Quinn stood up and introduced himself and the other sliders, including his brother Collin, who was conscious and moving around, albeit a bit sluggishly. He then, with some interjections from Remmy to keep it simple, explained what sliding was, and the basic concept of parallel worlds. Everyone from the parallel world stared at Quinn in an open-mouthed gawk, but no one voiced any disbelief. After all that had transpired on the Hellmouth, why not parallel worlds?  
  
Buffy was quick to notice, however, that X-Giles and Xander didn't look at all surprised. X-Giles not looking surprised was no major thing, but Xander acting like it was nothing newer than sliced bread gave her the wiggins. She turned around in his arms to face him, and she was a bit taken back by the guilt she saw in his eyes. "Xander, why aren't you surprised by what Quinn had to say?"  
  
Xander hung his head in defeat. "Because I'm from a parallel world."  



	6. PART VI - Can what is broken be mended ...

PART VI - "Can what is broken be mended again?"  
  
Buffy slowly stood up from Xander's lap and looked at him in horror. "YOU WHAT?"  
  
Xander wanted to look anywhere but into Buffy's eyes, but after all that had happened between them, he felt he owed her at least that. "I'm from one of those parallel worlds..." Xander's heart broke at the anger and rage that appeared in Buffy's eyes with his confession. Xander slowly looked over at X-Giles, tears forming in his eyes as he realized that once again he had lost the woman he loved. He looked at Giles and with pleading eyes and a pain-filled voice made a request of the Watcher. "Giles, why don't you tell everyone how you and I came to be here?"  
  
Giles smiled grimly at the boy he considered almost as a son. How many times will Xander have his hopes raised, only to have them completely dashed just moments from getting his heart's desire? After a short pause, he began to tell everyone gathered about the patrol arrangements, and how they came across Quinn and the others near the end of their patrol. As he described how he and Xander rushed to the aid of the Sliders, he noticed Buffy had moved over to the steps in front of the stacks. Sadly, he noticed that her arms were wrapped around her knees and tears were silently running down her cheeks. He noted with some surprise that Buffy would glance over at Xander now and again, but that her eyes contained no malice or rage, only deep longing and a muted love. I wonder what has become of the Xander of this world? And what will become of Buffy were he revealed to be no longer among the living? Shaking off his inner thoughts, Giles continued his tale with the confrontation between the groups, and how since Buffy was otherwise occupied, how they had no choice but to enter the vortex. Giles blushed a little as he described what happened after they exited the vortex.  
  
Cordelia teasingly smiled at Xander, the malice of her otherworld counterpart nowhere to be seen. Rather the look on her face and the tone of her voice hinted that their relationship was a close one, filled with friendly bantering. "So, Romeo here is not on this world even ten minutes before he hooks up with Buffy? Makes me wonder what I'm missing."  
  
Cordelia's comment earned a bashful smile from Xander, and caused Buffy to raise her head and thoughtfully gaze at Xander. Buffy's eyes began to grow warm again as something that X-Giles had said sunk in. She looked at X-Giles with a renewed hope in her eyes. "You said that you and that Xander are from another world, right?" At X-Giles's nod, she looked at Quinn Mallory. "Does the appearance of someone from another world affect the same person that is native to that world?"  
  
Quinn kindly smiled at her question, giving his answer some thought so he wouldn't give her any false hope. "No, the arrival of someone on a parallel world has no intrinsic effect on the life of the native double. The only way that one could effect the life of a double is to directly interact or interfere with it."  
  
Buffy processed his answer for a few seconds and asked another question. "So, there is no way that this Xander's appearance could have changed the existence of MY Xander?"  
  
The emphasis on the 'MY' in Buffy's statement caused Xander's heart to sink further, almost to the point of breaking. Why do I keep letting myself fall in love with her? Every time I do, I find out that she already loves someone else. The rub of it this time is, the other guy is me. My life isn't complicated... Nope, not complicated at all.   
  
Quinn was dubious as to where this line of questioning was leading, but was forthright nonetheless. "As far as I know, Xander's arrival has had no effect on the Xander of this world."  
  
Buffy's face lit up with excitement. "So MY Xander could still be alive somewhere! All I have to do now is find him! And I won't quit until I do."  
  
P-Giles turned in his chair, his demeanor strained with some hidden pain. "Buffy..." Giles glanced at the rest of the people gathered in the library. "Everyone, there is something you need to know. We've already found him." All of the other Slayerettes perked up and looked with P-Giles with hopeful expressions, just knowing that the news would be good.  
  
Tears of joy began to run down her face as she ran over to P-Giles. "Where is he? Can I see him?"  
  
When he saw the joy and hope written on their faces, he knew that what he was about to do was going to be the hardest thing he had ever done, or will ever do. "It seemed as though we were right when we speculated that Spike had kidnapped Xander."  
  
Buffy looked at P-Giles curiously, thinking that it never took him this long to deliver GOOD news. The other Slayerettes seemed to pick up on the same vibe as well. "How did you find out that Spike had kidnapped Xander?"  
  
Tears formed at the corners of P-Giles's eyes, and his face was contorted with sadness. "Because Spike himself brought Xander here tonight."  
  
Buffy's head began to swim as the implications of what P-Giles just said hit her. "Where is Xander, Giles? Why can't I see him?"  
  
Giles couldn't bear to look Buffy in the eyes anymore. He just couldn't bear to watch her reaction to the news he was about to give her. "Because Buffy, all Spike brought me was his head."  



	7. PART VII - Love is never lost, only del...

PART VII - "Love is never lost, only delayed."  
  
Buffy knees threatened to buckle beneath her as she received P-Giles's news. "NOOOOOOOO! He can't be dead! HE CAN'T BE!" Tears flowed freely down her face in torrents as she began to speak in tones so soft that almost no one could hear. "We were supposed to spend the rest of our lives together... I was supposed to grow old with him..."  
  
Willow broke down in Oz's arms, loudly crying and morning the loss of her best friend. Oz promised himself that he would take time to grieve later, for now his whole being was focused on comforting his beloved girlfriend.  
  
Cordelia excused herself to the ladies room, trying without success to hide the tears that were streaking down her face. As she raced to the restroom, her only thought besides that of disbelief that her friend was dead, was why Buffy's life seemed to be one tragedy after another.  
  
X-Giles and the Sliders seemed to be unable to comprehend the implications that Xander's death would mean in this world. X-Giles sighed in silent agony for the Slayer of this world, who seemed as slated for tragedy as his own Slayer.  
  
Buffy began to gasp for air as her sobs left her short of breath. In panic, Buffy raced for the doors of the library, needing solace to deal with her pain.  
  
Willow began to stand up to follow Buffy, but Xander placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll go after her." In a soft, tiny voice he added, "I'm the only one who can."  
  
*****  
  
Xander raced out of the library, but Buffy was nowhere to be seen. But, if this Buffy was anything like the Buffy of his world, he knew exactly where she was. The moon was still high in the night sky, a sure sign that now was not the time to let down his guard. I really don't think Buffy could handle losing TWO Xanders in one night. Not to mention the whole aversion to death complex I've got. Xander picked up his pace, determined to be there for Buffy whether she needed him or not.  
  
Buffy let her feet drag along the ground as she swayed aimlessly on one of the children's swings in the playground. Her face contorted in anguish, she mourned the loss of her love, her Xander. She was thinking about their last meeting alone before Spike abducted him, when her Slayer senses picked up movement directly behind her. She waited for the vampires to come and send her to meet her beloved when she recognized exactly who was behind her. A small smile lit up her eyes briefly as she felt his familiar presence surround her like a warm blanket. "Xander..."  
  
Xander stopped dead in his tracks when he heard her call his name. Busted. I was hoping she wouldn't notice I was here just yet. Just how in the hell did she know I was here? "How did you know it was me?"  
  
Buffy unconsciously licked her lips. "You wear the same aftershave. It's one of my favorite scents. That, and I'd know your presence anywhere, I can feel it. It's a part of me."  
  
Xander blushed slightly, at the same time cursing fate. The same fate that cursed him to be born on a world where the woman he loved would never share his feelings. And cursed the Xander of this world to find and win the heart of Buffy, only to die horribly. When will they be able to finally find happiness? Xander looked at the woman who was and also wasn't the woman he loved. Deciding that he was going to have to take the first step, Xander walked over behind Buffy and gently stroked her soft blond hair. Instead of flinching away as he expected, she slowly relaxed into his touch and leaned back against him. In a low soothing voice he spoke to her. "You want to talk about it?"  
  
Buffy slowly nodded her head in affirmation, knowing that if she could trust anyone, she could trust the man who was seemingly identical to her Xander in almost every way. She waited as he lowered himself into the neighboring swing, and focused her deep green eyes on his soft brown ones and knew that she could handle this, just as long as he was there with her.  



	8. PART VIII - Confession is good for the ...

PART VIII - "Confession is good for the soul."  
  
As Xander looked into Buffy's eyes he noticed the still flowing tears, and the terrible pain and anguish which Buffy couldn't hide even if she tried. "So, how long have you and me... Um, you and your Xander been together?"  
  
Buffy looked up at Xander, her beautiful green eyes tinged with confusion. "Don't you know? I mean, Quinn said our worlds were very similar, didn't he? And that would mean you and I are together there, right?"  
  
Xander shifted his eyes away from hers, his shoulders sagging slightly, but enough that Buffy noticed the motion. "Um, I was just checking. You know, to see how similar our worlds are and all." Xander hoped that he had shifted his eyes soon enough that Buffy hadn't seen the hurt and longing that her statement caused. How could she know that time and again, on MY world, that she'd picked the undead over me. And that I long to know how it could have been... "So had you two been together long?"  
  
Buffy hadn't missed a thing, she noticed the pain in Xander's eyes, but was unaware of its source. She vowed to find out what could have caused her When did I start thinking of this Xander as 'mine'? Xander such heartache. But, as she considered Xander's question, she got a wistful, happy look on her face. "Yeah... Yeah, we had. We'd been together a little over two years now."  
  
Xander had to fight back the tears as he heard her words. Two years? But that would mean... Sweet Fancy Moses... we've... they've been together the whole time she's been in high school. "So... Um, how did you two start dating?"  
  
Buffy looked at Xander softly, wondering where he was going with this. "Well, we met on my first day of school, in fact, you were the first one of the Slayerettes to find out that I was the Slayer." She smiled as she remembered his first words to her. "I remember the first words you ever said to me..."  
  
Xander smiled lovingly into her eyes. "Can I have you?"  
  
Buffy found herself falling into Xander's deep brown eyes. "Yes... Uh! I mean, exactly. Those words imprinted themselves on the back of my mind. Every time I saw you, those words popped into my head. Eventually, I started to answer you in my head."  
  
Xander moved his swing a bit closer to hers, letting his foot gently brush up against her ankle. "And just how did you answer me, Ms. Summers?"  
  
Buffy felt her neck flush with heat as she felt his foot touch her. "Every time the answer was the same. Every time I answered 'Yes'."  
  
Xander felt a little bold, hoping that his personal Buffy curse didn't travel across worlds. He moved his head closer to hers, his warm breath cascading over her cheeks. "And what is that answer right now?"  
  
Buffy felt a fire rekindle inside her that she thought was forever extinguished. In response to Xander's question, she inched her lips ever nearer to his. Just as she was about to whisper her answer against Xander's lips, she sensed a presence behind them. She pulled back gently and addressed their visitor. "What do you want Angel?"   



	9. PART IX - Brooding is so NOT attractive!

PART IX - "Brooding is so NOT attractive!"  
  
Just a little over an hour ago, one of the Giles' informed Angel of the ultimate fate of Xander. I'm still at a loss on how to deal with having two of Giles around. Giles was barely able to get the words out of his mouth, before Angel bolted out of the library. After wasting forty-five minutes in a fruitless search of all of Buffy's usual slaying spots, Angel's worry grew into a fever pitch. Where can she be? With Buffy's temper, I half expected her to be killing demons left and right. But, she's absolutely NOWHERE to be found! Maybe it's time to go rough up Willy the snitch, maybe he'll have some clue as to where the Slayer is. Of course, he won't give up the information willingly... so the better. Angel stalked with superhuman speed toward the bar of Willy the snitch, that is until he heard the squeak of metal. Hoping that he'd find the woman he loved at the source, he ran toward the sound. His dead heart soared as he saw the familiar blonde petite from of his beloved slayer. Well, she's not exactly mine, but maybe now things will change. Angel smirked, his lips turning into a cocky smile.  
  
Angel was about to walk up to Buffy and offer his condolences and a shoulder to cry on, when he received one of the greatest shocks of his life. She ALREADY had a shoulder to cry on! And from the looks of things, the two were pretty cozy. They were even playing footsie! Well it's time for Little Miss Slayer to move onto the big leagues. But, yet again, Angel's play on Buffy's affections was blocked by action from the couple in the swings. Their heads moved slowly together, merely a wisp of air separated their lips from joining in a passionate kiss. Suddenly, before the fireworks could begin, Buffy pulled away from her would-be suitor and addressed him. "What do you want Angel?"  
  
Angel stared at Buffy in stunned silence, his mouth opening and closing slowly, his lips trying to form words, but no sound came out. What do I want? She has the nerve to ask that! Especially after she was about to make time with a new guy, and Xander's body wasn't even in the ground! Finally, after his initial shock of seeing Buffy about to kiss another man subsided, Angel spoke. "What am I doing here? You have the gall to ask me that? Giles just told me about Xander, and I've been hunting all over to see how you were holding up. I expected to see anything ranging from anger to despair, but what I DIDN'T expect, was to find you here in the arms of another man!" Angel looked at Buffy with a lopsided grin, that out of the corner of Xander's eye reminded him with a shudder of Angelus. "So I guess Xander really didn't mean so much to you at all, I mean it only took you..." Angel looked up at the moon and them back at Buffy. "ALMOST two hours to find yourself a new man. Poor, poor Xander... he probably died thinking he was the only one for you. How pathetic."  
  
Before Angel could say another word or even react, Buffy slammed him against a nearby tree, her hand wrapped around his throat and a stake pointed at his heart. "It's been a real slow night for vampire slaying Angel, so I'm begging you... please... PLEASE say another word about my Xander! Give me just the littlest excuse to do my job!" Buffy poked Angel in the chest, not so gently, with the stake to prove her point. "I figure, since I can't dust the creature who killed my honey right now, I can at the least dust the one who made him!"  
  
Angel felt fear as he looked into the rage and hatred expressed in Buffy's eyes her lips pressed tightly together in a menacing frown. But, the thing that scared Angel more than what he saw in Buffy's eyes, was the face of the man she was about to kiss only moments before... Xander. "What? Xander is that really you? How in the hell is that possible?"  
  
Buffy smirked at Angel's discomfort as Xander walked forward and stood beside him. "Well, how about I take a stab at answering your totally articulate questions. Yes, Dead-Boy it's me in the flesh, the living flesh that is." Buffy flashed a sweet and impish smile at Xander as he continued. "Well, as for how it's possible... you'll just have to go back to the library and find out for yourself. It's just a not to be missed lecture." Buffy's eyes twinkled with mirth in Xander's direction. "I get the feeling that Quinn really gets a happy out of explaining all that long-winded science stuff." Xander proffered his arm to Buffy and smiled sweetly. "I'm new in town, and it's not safe for a guy like me... think you could walk me home?" Buffy slowly pulled the stake away from Angel's chest. After a moment's recollection, Xander looked at Buffy with questioning eyes. "Where exactly IS home for the next eleven days?"  
  
The way Angel's mouth quirked in obvious relief after Buffy removed the stake, was quickly replaced by a grimace with Xander's innocent question. Buffy flashed a winning grin at Xander. "The same place it's been for the last six months... my house."  



	10. Part X - Love puts things where they bel...

Part X - "Love puts things where they belong."  
  
Xander looked at her with those deep chocolate brown eyes that she never failed to drown in. "Buffy, not that I'm complaining, in fact there's not even a remote possibility of a complaint escaping my lips." Buffy just looked at him sweetly, knowing all too well Xander's ability to ramble before arriving at the point. "I'm just curious how I got so lucky... I mean how it came to be... I mean..."  
  
As Xander rambled, it took a monumental effort on Buffy's part to stifle her giggles, but what took even more effort to stifle was her urge just to run her fingers across the slight stubble on Xander's jaw. Suddenly an image popped into her head of how she usually quelled an attack of the XanderRambles. I'm so definitely in trouble if he keeps rambling, cause the longer he rambles the more I'm going to think of ways for him to get to the point. And ALL of them involve smoochies. Of course, there's no real downside to that solution.   
  
Xander's breath caught at the sight of the look on Buffy's face. It was the exact same look she got when she was thinking about smoochies with Angel, except of course that Angel was obviously NOT in her list of kissable people on this world. Hmmm, I wonder if she's thinking about smoochies. A few seconds later, Buffy's eyes darkened in the streetlight and she smiled at him with that sexy half-smile. Oh yeah, she's definitely thinking about smoochies! And God help me, she's thinking about smoochies with me!   
  
Buffy was so lost in Xander's eyes by this point that she hardly even realized that his mouth was no longer moving. Oh damn! He stopped talking, and I have absolutely NO idea what he was saying. Buffy blushed slightly and lowered her gaze away from his eyes. "Sorry, Xander my mind was wondering, what were you saying?"  
  
Xander smiled at Buffy teasingly, letting her know he knew exactly where her mind was wondering. This caused Buffy to blush even deeper. "Well, after a few seconds of rambling, I finally got around to asking why I'm staying at your house. Or more specifically, why I started staying at your house." He raised his hand and gently brushed a lock of her golden hair behind her ear. "I certainly know why I'm still staying there."  
  
Buffy looked at Xander with mirth and love in her eyes before suddenly they clouded over with darkness. "Xander, I don't know if I want to get into that with you right now. It's not exactly a fond memory."  
  
Xander softly curled his fingers around her chin and raised it mildly until he could look her in the eye again. "What happened Buffy? What's so terrible about me moving in with you? Do I constantly leave the toilet seat up?"  
  
Buffy couldn't help but giggle at his comment. "No Xander, it's not that at all. You're a very considerate roomie, it's just that I'd rather not rehash this out on a dark street in public."  
  
Xander looked at her with concern and sympathy in his eyes. "How about this, we go to your house, I fix us some tea, and you tell me all about it, ok?"  
  
Buffy sighed in relief. "Deal."  
  
*****  
  
As they neared her house, Xander's mind finally clued him in to a very important fact. Buffy's hand was very firmly intertwined with his own. While they were walking her hand had naturally traveled down the length of his arm and threaded its fingers around the very familiar hand it was now holding. Xander also became acutely aware of Buffy's thumb, which was absently stroking the top of his hand very tenderly. Xander silently expected her to realize what was happening and immediately remove her hand from his, but that moment never came. Why isn't she jerking her hand back and mumbling something about Angel yet? Xander mentally kicked himself. Oh yeah, this isn't the Buffy that I know... this is a totally different Buffy. A Buffy who feels that holding my hand is the most natural thing in the world, like there was no one else she'd rather be with. Who am I to argue with this twist of fate? I mean, I've always dreamed of holding her hand, and here I am doing it.   
  
If Xander could read Buffy's mind, he'd be very surprised to find that her thoughts were almost exactly mirroring his own. What am I doing? I didn't mean to move my hand down like that, but it just comes naturally after loving a man for over two years. I know for a fact that I'm not going to move my hand, it just feels so right. Like a part of me is home. But why hasn't he said anything yet? Surely he's noticed that my hand is in his, so why hasn't he pulled his hand away and told me that only HIS Buffy can do things like that? But, carpe diem, cause I've never been a girl to look a gift horse in the mouth. So until he makes me move my hand, I'm keeping it right where it is... right where it belongs.   



	11. Part XI - Papa Was A Rolling Stone.

Part XI - "Papa Was A Rolling Stone"  
  
As they walked, hand in hand, into Buffy's house, Xander was stunned by the difference he felt inside that house. It wasn't so much the physical aspect of her house that seemed different, everything seemed exactly the same here as it did in his own world. It was more of the emotional atmosphere that seemed changed. Normally, when Xander was in Buffy's house, he sensed desperation and defeat. The environment was clogged with pain, and the occupants seemed barely unable to bear up under the weight of day-to-day life. Xander attributed most of Buffy's pain to Angel. Who else was more responsible for stealing Buffy's youth and robbing her of her hope and dreams for the future? He stole her innocence and happiness, and taught her to doubt the power of true love. Something Xander never believed that Buffy and Angel shared. Certainly not like the love that Buffy and the Xander of this world seemed to share.  
  
But this place, it was the complete opposite of its counterpart in his world. This place just radiated hope, and more importantly love. There wasn't even the barest trace of despair here. It almost seemed that in choosing him over Angel, Buffy changed her whole life for the better. Which, of course, is what Xander had believed the entire time the Buffy of his world was breaking his heart. But, even believing that, Xander would never have guessed at how drastic the difference would make.  
  
Buffy began to wave her hand in front of Xander's face as he stood open-mouthed and frozen in her doorway. "Xand, you in there? You act like you've never been inside my house before." Buffy squeezed Xander's hand and leaned in close to whisper into his ear conspiratorially. As she spoke her lips were almost caressing his ear. "Of course you know, you do more than live here..."  
  
Xander flushed deeply and leaned toward Buffy, her lips now pressed against his ear. Why does she keep acting like I'm 'her' Xander? God, please don't let Buffy be playing another game with my heart. I don't think my heart could survive it. "Buffy..." Xander managed to groan out, but more words were cut off when Joyce walked into the room.  
  
Buffy's teeth were about to wrap around Xander's ear when she heard her mom cough. Buffy blushed a deep crimson, and turned her head to face her mom as she rested it on Xander's shoulder. "Umm... hi mom."  
  
Joyce couldn't help but grin internally at her daughter and the man she loved, but on the outside she tried her best to glare. "Hi mom is right!" She tried to maintain her glare, only to fail as she looked at Xander tenderly. "Oh Xander! Thank God you're all right!" Before Xander could say anything, or even react Joyce had enfolded him in a large hug. "I was so afraid that we'd never see you again." Only Xander saw the small look of sadness that passed quickly over Buffy's eyes, and it broke his heart to see it. As Xander raised his hands to hug Joyce back, he saw the sadness in Buffy's eyes replaced with the same look she'd had since she saw him in the graveyard. He saw love in her eyes, love that belonged to him and him alone. "Now let me get a look at you." Joyce pulled away from the hug to inspect Xander. After going through a mental checklist, she turned to Buffy with a look of relief. "I don't want to know where he was or what happened to him, because I know that I won't like the answer. But I AM sure that it had something to do with the Hellmouth, and the only thing that matters to me is that Xander's back and he's ok." She turned to Xander and kissed him on the forehead. "You are OK, aren't you?"  
  
Xander ducked his head to keep both of them from seeing the tears that were threatening to streak down his face. In fact, he was barely able to choke out a reply. "I'm fine Mrs. Summers, thanks for asking."  
  
Joyce tucked her fingers under Xander's chin and raised his eyes to meet hers. "How many times is this now that I've told you to call me Mom?"  
  
Xander's eyes nearly popped out of his head with Joyce's last statement. Mom? She wants me to call her Mom? Not even MY birth mother wants me to call her Mom! How close ARE we? For that matter, how close am I to Buffy, I mean even Angel never got to call her Mom. And he supposedly was Buffy's soulmate. I guess that notion doesn't really hold water now. "Umm... ok, Mom"  
  
Joyce beamed. "That's better. Now I'm going off to bed. Now that I know that you're safe, I can sleep peacefully." Joyce kissed him on the forehead again, and hugged Buffy before going upstairs to bed.  
  
As soon as Joyce was out of sight, Buffy walked forward and enveloped Xander in a much more intimate embrace than the one her mother gave him. Without even thinking, she leaned up and brushed her lips across Xander's. "She really loves you Xander. You know, she already considers you part of the family." Tears began to form in her eyes. "She was almost as heartbroken as I was when you disappeared."  
  
Xander gently brushed the small tears from her face as he stroked her cheek. "What about now? What will you tell her?"  
  
Buffy smiled softly at him. "Nothing. Like she said, the fact that you're here now is all that matters. It doesn't matter where you were before, what matters is that you're here now." She leaned up to nuzzle her face against Xander's neck. Nope, it doesn't matter at all. Whether you know it or not Xander Harris, you're not leaving my sight for a second. I'm not going to lose you again. Xander heard her sigh in contentment as she drew back slightly. "Now how about that tea you promised me?"  
  
"As long as you keep your end of the deal." Xander grinned at her, his eyes locking onto her lips. He suddenly had a new reason to stare as she wet those full lips with her tongue. He just knew that his eyes were now darkened with desire. "You did promise to tell me how I came to be a resident at Chez Summers."  
  
Buffy lips turned upwards into an almost feral grin. "Well, if that's what you want." Buffy gently intertwined her fingers with Xander's and turned to head towards the kitchen. She craned her head around and looked at Xander with a sexy gleam in her eyes. "I half-expected you to hold me to a different promise, maybe one with a few less clothes involved." As Xander sputtered and coughed, her grin grew wider and her eyes twinkled with a new light. "Looks like I'm going to have to retrain you."  
  
Xander squeezed her hand and rubbed his thumb over the top of her hand. "Umm, is it too late to change the terms of my promise?"  
  
*****  
  
"Here." Xander turned away from the teakettle he'd just placed on the stove to face a cookie-wielding Buffy. Smiling he leaned toward her with an open mouth, waiting for her feed him the yummy looking cookie he held in her hand. "I made these while you were gone, they're your favorite." She placed her free hand on his chest as she raised the cookie to his lips. He responded by wrapping an arm around her waist and drawing her closer. He bit into the cookie, and soon thereafter, Buffy could hear Xander's contented grunts of pleasure. "Good?"  
  
"Mmmm. Wow! These ARE my favorites! Buffy, when did you become such a good cook?" Xander was looking at her with a mixture of love and awe as he chewed happily on the delicious cookie.  
  
Buffy gave Xander another full-teeth smile. "I'm so happy you like them. And I never had a reason to learn how to cook before I met you." She saw that a bit of chocolate was smeared at the corner of his mouth, and decided not to fight the urge. "There was a lot of things that were missing in my life before I met you Xander. Things that would still be missing if I'd picked ANYONE else but you." Leaning up she pressed her tongue to the corner of his mouth and began to lick up the smeared chocolate. "Mmmm. Tastes even better when it's on you." Buffy's grin grew as she licked her lips, wetting them once again. "Of course, I already knew that." Buffy took the opportunity to cop a quick feel and ran her hand down his chest, before turning around to take a seat at the dining room table.  
  
"C'mon Xander, have a seat, and I'll tell you why you're living here." Xander turned down the eye on the stove and walked over to the dining table. But, he didn't take a seat. He moved behind where Buffy was sitting and began to rub her shoulders, kneading her muscles lovingly. "Ooh, Xander. You know just what a girl needs. Keep this up and I'll love you forever."  
  
Xander paused his ministrations for a moment and leaned down to press his lips just behind her ear. "Buffy, there's nothing on Earth that could keep me from loving you." Buffy turned her head just enough to press her lips against Xander's briefly. "How about I massage, and you talk?"  
  
Buffy stole another kiss before turning her head back around to face forward. "Well, like I said, you've been living here for about six months..."  
  
*****  
  
SIX MONTHS AGO  
  
Willow was standing with her back to her locker waiting for Oz to show up for class. The halls were congested with talking people. Some were at their lockers, while others just congregated in the middle of the hall, forcing traffic to go around. In the time it took to blink, Willow heard her name called by two different people. To her left, moving toward her with his characteristic grace and nonchalance was her beloved boyfriend Oz. And to her right, moving towards her through the thickest congestion of students was Buffy. It took all of two seconds before Willow heard a grunt of frustration and the crowds started to part like the Red Sea. Some were fortunate enough to clear out of the path of the Slayer of their own free will. A few were lucky enough to only be roughly shoved aside. The unfortunate however, got a very personal introduction with the lockers on either side of the hall.  
  
Willow looked back to her left to see Oz standing right next to her with a smirk on his face. Nodding towards the bodies flying across the hallway, Oz couldn't resist making a comment. "Well, that's certainly one way to get your way through the morning crowds. Not your usual, or even generally accepted way, but one way to do it."  
  
Willow grinned at her boyfriend and pecked him lovingly on the lips. She turned back about to look at Buffy, and for the first time saw the look the Slayer had on her face. "I wonder what's gotten Buffy all worked up? Usually, around this time of the morning, she's all smiles."  
  
Oz however, saw what wasn't plainly visible to everyone else. And with this insight, he had a possible answer to a question that many of the students were asking themselves this morning... 'Why me?'. "I'll give you one guess as to what's got her upset. Here's a hint, look at her hands."  
  
Willow looked at Buffy's hands in confusion. What's wrong with her hands? They look fine to me. Everything seems in place, her nails are perfect, and the pale pink nailpolish that Xander loves is in mint condition. So what could possibly be wrong? Willow was about to turn around and ask her boyfriend what on earth he meant when she gasped in surprise. Buffy's hand... was empty. She turned back around to face her boyfriend with worry in her eyes. "Xander. She's not holding Xander's hand." Letting her emotions run free, as she always tended to do, Willow began to get frantic. "I don't even see him around... Oz, Xander ALWAYS walks Buffy to school! Even if he's got the flu, he walks her to class, if only to go right back to bed. Something's wrong!" As Willow turned around to wait for Buffy, Oz wrapped his arms around her waist, offering her comfort.  
  
As Buffy got closer, both Willow and Oz could see the fear and worry in her eyes. After going through the mass of students like a Pro lineman, Buffy reached her friends. Once in the comfort of their presence, her whole demeanor changed. Her shoulders slumped, and she leaned against the row of lockers like it was the only thing holding her up. Wrapping her arms around her stomach, Buffy choked out an anguished query to the Wiccan and the werewolf. "Guys, have you seen Xander?"  
  
A tear rolled down Willow's face as her fears slowly came true. "You mean he isn't with you? I mean, of course he isn't, cause then you wouldn't have asked us." Buffy managed a small smile at her friend. "So, he didn't walk you to school this morning? Xander loves that morning time with you, he loves being the first thing you see in the morning. I mean, Xander would have to be dead or dying to miss..." As soon as the words left her mouth, Willow wished she could grab them out of the air and stuff them back in. "Oops."  
  
The pain and anguish on Buffy's face was plain for all to see. "Don't you think I haven't thought of that! Don't you think I came here hoping Xander was mad at me, or even just plain old forgot about me?" Buffy's tone was harsh and her voice was strained. "I'm sorry Willow. It's just that I was hoping he was here, and now that I know he isn't..." Buffy looked wistful as she pictured her great love in her mind's eye. "He's just a part of me that I can't bear to lose."  
  
Willow nodded, looking at Oz with total love and adoration, letting him know that she felt like that about him. "Umm... well you know how Xander can be. Maybe he just didn't wake up... I meant wake up in time to walk you here. Umm..."  
  
Oz kissed her on the top of her head. "I think what my beautiful girlfriend here is trying to say, is that maybe we should wait until first period is over before we jump to any false conclusions. That sound ok to you girls?" Buffy and Willow both glumly nodded at him, plainly not feeling as optimistic as he did.  
  
*****  
  
Buffy's patience outlasted the tardy bell by about five seconds. As the last of the straggling students filed into the classroom, Buffy began to look around frantically for her lover. The last student entered the classroom, shutting the door behind him, and still no Xander. Buffy turned towards Willow, who was sitting right next to her, and motioned to the empty seat behind her with an expression Willow was unaccustomed to seeing on the Slayer's face... fear. Knowing in the pit of her stomach that something had happened to Xander, Buffy stood up out of her chair and slung her backpack over her shoulders.  
  
Just as she was walking out of the back door, the old battle-axe of a history teacher walked in. Placing her hands on her hips, her wrinkled face shifted into an ugly and menacing frown. "Just WHERE do you think YOU are going Ms. Summers? Or did it slip your mind that you were supposed to cut class today with your slacker boyfriend?"  
  
Buffy's hand froze on the doorknob in utter shock and disbelief. She was willing to let the teacher's initial comments pass as just her usual old maid bitchiness, but the comment about Xander went too far! Buffy whirled about and with a fire burning in her eyes, pointed a well-manicured finger at the startled teacher. "That's STRIKE ONE!" Turning about, Buffy stormed out of the room, leaving the whole class praying they weren't strike three.  
  
*****  
  
Giles was busy sorting and thumbing through his copious volumes of books for impending prophecies Buffy would have to face, when he heard the sound of angry footsteps nearing the library. No sooner than he could turn around, he was face to face with a very determined Slayer, the library doors swinging back and forth behind her like some old Western saloon. "W- why he- hello Buffy. Shouldn't you be in class right now?"  
  
Shaking her head slowly, her blond locks swaying around her face Buffy looked up with reddened and bloodshot eyes and said only two words. "Giles, keys!"  
  
Giles only looked at Buffy in confusion. "Keys? What the devil do you need keys for?"  
  
Buffy grunted in exasperation at her Watcher for not understanding. Holding up her hand impatiently, with her palm open in acceptance, Buffy repeated her order, only more verbosely. "Giles, give me your car keys. It's an emergency! I need to get to Xander!"  
  
Giles looked up at Buffy from his books with concern. Although Xander was almost like a son to him, he could sometimes strain the Watcher's nerves to the breaking point. Giles decided to approach Buffy's anxiety with caution, realizing that when it came to Xander, Buffy was often less than rational. "Buffy are you sure that it's truly an emergency, and not just Xander being Xander?"  
  
For the second time that day, Buffy's anger flashed, burning hotly in her beautiful green eyes. "Giles! I DON'T know. In fact, the only basis I have for this feeling is totally based on my gut feeling. Either you give me your keys, or get off your pompous British ass and go with me!"  
  
Giles looked at Buffy, watched the fire in her eyes burn out, and saw it replaced by the fear and despair that she was hiding just under the surface. Standing up from his books, Giles enfolded Buffy in a fatherly embrace and murmured against the top of her head. "Let's go find Xander, Buffy."  
  
*****  
  
Buffy was about to burst at the seams as Giles's beat up old Citroen crawled down the street towards Xander's house. "My God Giles, how about entering the second half of the century, where cars can actually get you someplace, before it's too late?" Having said this Buffy crossed her arms over her chest, and looked forlornly out the passenger window.  
  
Giles sighed at Buffy's comment, but decided to let it pass considering her state of mind. "Buffy, it will do us absolutely no good to arrive quickly if we are unable to arrive safely." Giles could only grin as he heard Buffy mutter something about stuffy old Brits under her breath.  
  
After what seemed to Buffy like forever, they finally pulled up to the curb in front of Xander's house. Buffy almost ripped the old door off of its hinges and ran as fast as he could to the front door. Buffy tried the handle, and to her immense surprise, found it unlocked. Stepping inside she saw that there were no lights on, and there didn't seem to be anything else turned on for that matter. Turning towards Giles, she looked at him with true worry. "Giles, this is totally odd. Usually at the very least, you can find Xander's dad passed out drunk in front of the TV. But I don't even hear a TV running. I'm really scared Giles."  
  
Taking off his glasses, Giles took a moment to think as he cleaned them with his handkerchief. After surveying the situation, Giles began to walk towards the den. "Buffy, I'll check around down here, perhaps it would be best if you searched the upstairs."  
  
"Gotcha, seeing that I'm the girlfriend, and I've been up there a few times." At Giles's incredulous look, Buffy began to blush furiously. "Umm, I mean... Of course, never in the sense that you're thinking of." Merely raising his eyebrow in response, Buffy quickly rushed up the stairs, her face a deep shade of crimson.  
  
Buffy walked the familiar path to Xander's room. Upon reaching the door, she softly ran her palm over the surface of the door, visions of visits and pleasures past flashing through her mind. Slowly she opened the door, half hoping to see Xander asleep on the bed. Unfortunately, all she saw was the usual scene of an unmade bed. Not seeing Xander anywhere in her sight, she moved to his closet, searching more out of a process of elimination than actual hope of finding him there.  
  
After searching his closet for any sign of him and not finding any, Buffy was about to leave Xander's room, deciding that there was nothing here to help her find her true love. Just as she was about to close the door, she felt a tingling at the back of her neck. A tingling that made her feel like there was something she missed. Uh-oh! My Spidey-sense is tingling! Turning back around, Buffy took the room in, slowly surveying it.  
  
Running her fingers through her silky hair in frustration, Buffy was about to shrug off her feeling as nothing, when she saw something. Something she had looked over, either not seeing it, or just shaking it off as unimportant. But as she looked at it longer and more closely, she saw that the speckles of red on the wall wasn't merely paint like she had thought, it was blood. And as she looked around the room, she saw that there was a LOT of those red speckles on the walls. Clutching her stomach almost like she was in pain, Buffy looked on the floor next to the bed, and saw something that she would swear in the future shaved years off of her life. Lying next to the bed, on the far side away from the door, was a pale and blood-covered hand.  
  
Screaming in terror, Buffy collapsed to her knees, her eyes riveted on the sight before her. "Giles! Giles! Get up here, now!"  
  
*****  
  
Buffy crawled on her hands and knees towards the hand that was extended just past the edge of the bed, praying that things weren't as bad as they looked. Just before she got to the hand, her eyes were drawn to what was lying just beyond the grasp of those extended fingers. Buffy felt tears spring to her eyes as she looked at the blood covered phone, bloody fingerprints seeming to cover all of the keys needed to dial her number, all but the last one. Oh Xander. Please don't be as hurt as I think you are. Please God, don't be that hurt! But, Buffy's thoughts were all for naught as she rounded the corner of the bed, seeing the most horrible sight she had ever seen in all her years of Slaying. In fact, it was all she could do to keep from throwing up. It wasn't until she heard the sound of footsteps and a sharp intake of air from Giles, who was now standing behind her, before she could even begin to move again. Tears were streaking down her face as she began to take in all of what she saw in front of her.  
  
Xander's extended hand was facing palm up, and was covered with blood. Small cuts and welts criss-crossed the palms of his hands, wound that could only be caused by holding the palms outward in a defensive posture to ward off blows. As she moved her eyes upward from his hand, Buffy gasped as she saw the welts and bruises covering his arms. In a few places, Buffy could even see nasty looking finger shaped bruises. Buffy paused long enough in her examination of Xander, to speak to Giles in a shaky and anguished voice. "Giles, go call an ambulance! Get them here quick!" A thought hitting her, Buffy reached down and gently placed her fingers around Xander's wrist, checking for his pulse. She found one, but it was slow and faint. Turning to yell downstairs to Giles, her mouth dropped open when she realized that he was still there. "That's TWO! Giles, he doesn't exactly have what you'd call a steady pulse, so how about you get your British ass downstairs and call 911!"  
  
Turning back to Xander, she restarted her visual examination at his feet, wishing she could find the bastard who did this to her lover. Unfortunately, the pajama bottoms he had on kept her from seeing any injures he might have sustained to his legs. What she could see however, was that one, if not both, of Xander's legs were bent at unnatural angles. On closer inspection, she saw that one leg of Xander's pajamas was torn because of a compound fracture. Oh Xander... Who on earth could have done something like this to you? Her vision very blurred because of the tears flowing down her face, Buffy wearily continued to look him over. Her eyes were drawn to his bare chest, the chest that for more nights than she could count, had served as a safe and warm pillow for her head. Now, it was covered in angry looking welts and small cuts. Upon seeing his ribs, Buffy had to place a hand on the blood soaked floor to steady her shaking body. There were hardly any areas of his ribs that weren't covered in bruises, deep dark bruises, which could only signify severely broken ribs.  
  
After seeing the rest of his body, Buffy wasn't so sure that she wanted to see the condition of Xander's face. However, ever if she wanted to at that moment, Buffy couldn't see his face because of the hair that was matted to his forehead. Very gently, Buffy moved as much of the blood caked hair out of her way as she could. As she did, she finally found the source of all of the blood pooled about him. Right below Xander's hairline was a nasty looking gash running from his temple to his eyebrow. Without a second thought, Buffy tore the sleeves off of her blouse so she could staunch the flow of blood coming from the gash. She felt her emotional control slipping as she saw the extent of the damage Xander's attacker had done to the face she loved to stare at. Both of his eyes were black and swollen completely shut. As she looked at his bloody and broken nose, she traced her small fingers over his bruised cheeks, careful to avoid touching his broken jaw. Leaning forward, she placed a loving kiss softly on his lips, whispering an 'I love you' against them.  
  
Just as she was pulling away, she heard the paramedics running up the stairs. Tracing her fingers over his spilt lips, she stood up to make room for them. She stood in the corner of the room and watched them as they performed their own examination. That is until, one of the paramedics turned around and noticed her standing there and gave an order for someone to get her out of there. As one of the burly men dragged her from Xander's room, all she could wonder is why she wasn't struggling against the man taking her away from Xander. She really didn't come back to her senses until she felt a pair of warm masculine arms folding her into an embrace. She was about half a heartbeat away from pummeling the bastard who presumed he could touch her when she realized that it was Giles's arms that were offering her comfort.  
  
She stayed in his embrace until she heard the paramedics hustling outside with Xander's inert form strapped to a stretcher. Completely unwilling to let them go without her, she pulled away from Giles and rushed after them, only stopping when the same hulking man grabbed her by the shoulders and asked her just where the hell she thought she was going. The anger in her eyes returned as she glared up at the towering hulk. "I KNOW exactly where I'm going! I'm getting on that ambulance with my boyfriend and I'm riding with him to the hospital!"  
  
The big bruiser chuckled as he leaned over and got in Buffy's face. "I don't think so little girl. There's no way in hell I'm letting you on that ambulance, it's the rules. So why don't you walk your cute little butt over to your car and follow us to the hospital?"  
  
Giles walked outside just in time to see Buffy give the paramedic a look of anger that caused all but the dumbest of vampires to flee in terror. He was about to intercede on the paramedic's behalf when Buffy sprung into action. "That's STRIKE THREE!" She grabbed his wrist and twisted it around, nearly snapping the bone in the process. The bruiser cried out in pain as he collapsed to the pavement. Buffy looked into his eyes as she applied a bit more pressure to his wrist. "Do I have your attention now, Cro-Magnon man? Listen good, because if you don't I'll snap your girlie man wrist like a twig! Are you reading me here?" She waited a few seconds for him to respond in the positive before continuing. "Now, I'm going to let go of your wrist, and you're going to make room for me to sit beside the love of my life, understand?" He nodded, and she let go of his wrist, waiting for him to make room for her. Giving the burly man a tight smile as she climbed into the ambulance, she called back to Giles for him to follow them to the hospital. She placed her hands at Xander's side as the doors were closed and the ambulance took off for the hospital.  



	12. Part XII - Where was I when you needed ...

Part XII - "Where was I when you needed me?"  
  
PRESENT DAY  
  
About halfway through Buffy's recounting, Xander stopped giving Buffy a massage, and simply leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind. During the more difficult parts Xander hugged her tighter, ostensibly to offer her an extra measure of support. But there was another, hidden, reason that Xander pulled Buffy tighter against him during the more difficult parts of her narration. He held her tighter so she couldn't turn around in his arms and see the unshed tears in his eyes that he could barely hold back.  
  
Swallowing, Xander did a mental gut check to make sure his voice sounded normal when he spoke. "So Buffy, what happened after the ambulance headed out for the hospital?" Mentally, Xander slammed down even more mental barriers to keep his emotions at bay.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Buffy steeled herself as she began to walk down the rocky and treacherous path of Memory Lane. "Well, thank God, nothing eventful happened on the way to the hospital. I don't think I could have held it together if something else had happened to him." Because of their proximity, Buffy could feel every little movement Xander made. And usually, just the feel of him moving against her gave her a feeling of warmth and safety. But, just a few seconds ago, Buffy felt a shudder run through Xander that chilled her to the bone. That's twice tonight that Xander has had a reaction to something I've said. And, the reactions I've gotten can definitely be classified as bad ones.   
  
"Anyway, as soon as we pulled up to the hospital, they wheeled him directly to the ICU." Right as she was about to say something, Buffy started to giggle. "I'm sorry, but looking back, I finally realized what bouncers do for a day job! 'Cause every time I tried to get back to the ICU to see you, umm him, one of those Neanderthals got in my way."  
  
Buffy's giggles were apparently infectious, because Xander started chuckling along with her. In that one moment, Buffy's feminine giggles and Xander's deeper, masculine, chuckles melded into a melody of two people in perfect synch with one another. "Umm Buffy, not to point out the obvious ... Actually, that's exactly what I'm going to do... But if you wanted past those muscle-heads so badly, why didn't you just use a little violence?"  
  
Buffy's eyes went wide and she turned about in Xander's arms to partially face him. "I don't ALWAYS use violence do I?" In answer, Xander merely raised his eyebrow in a mocking gesture. Buffy stuck her tongue out at Xander before turning back around in his arms. Settling back into his embrace, Buffy placed her small hands over Xander's arms, trailing them up and down his forearms lovingly. "Well, in answer to your almost-question, I would have loved to take out some frustration on a dumb creature, but spending the night in the county klink wasn't exactly in high on my list of "Things a Loving and Supportive Girlfriend Should Do". Xander just grinned at Buffy sheepishly and bade her to go on.  
  
"Well, I must have worn a trench into that tile floor before we heard thing one from any of the doctors. It had only been a couple of hours, but hours seem like years when the love of your life is separated from you." Glancing up for a moment, Buffy was a little bit surprised to see the look of unabashed love and wonder on Xander's face. Almost as if he were picturing in his mind what it would be like to be loved that much, and loved most of all... by her. She was shaken out of her reverie by an expectant looking Xander, who also blushed when he realized that she wasn't staring off into space, but rather into his eyes. Softly smiling Buffy laid her head on Xander's chest and continued.  
  
"Finally, after what seemed like forever, a doctor came out of the ICU. Just looking at his face, it was all I could do to stay on my feet." Buffy took a deep calming breath, which only served to excite her, because as she inhaled she smelled what she dubbed "Xander scent", which was just a good clean smell of soap and water, her favorite cologne, and something she couldn't identify but that was just the essential Xander. God, how she loved to smell this man. Quickly she returned to her tale before she got busted again.   
  
"Well, that doctor came over to us, and asked if we were waiting for any news on the Harris kid, and if either of us were family. Well, you know me, I immediately blurted out that I was almost family, seeing that I was your fiancée."  
  
SIX MONTHS AGO  
  
Giles just looked over at her with a stunned expression as he let Buffy's exclamation sink in. The doctor however, was completely unfazed. "Well, Miss, I'm afraid I don't have very much good news to impart to you. Mr. Harris is alive, and his vital signs are stabilized, but that's the extent of the good news I can give you." Buffy's eyes immediately began to water, and Giles placed a comforting arm around her shoulder.  
  
"Doctor, what happened to him?"  
  
The doctor looked sadly at Buffy, asking her with his eyes if she really wanted to hear this. Seeing in her eyes that she had to know everything, the doctor rubbed his tired eyes, wishing for all the world that children like these two didn't have to endure things like this. "Well it seems as though your fiancée was beaten very severely with a wide range of items. The compound fracture in his leg, as well as the broken bones in his other leg, and his broken ribs seemed to have been caused with several blows from an aluminum baseball bat. We assume that Mr. Harris was struck several times with great force to cause such trauma to his legs, because it's really not that easy to cause a compound fracture in one of the strongest bones in the body." The doctor just watched sadly as the older man tried to comfort the distraught woman.   
  
"Most of his welts seem to coincide with the bruises left from a severe beating with a very thick belt, and furthermore, the defensive cuts on his hands and the cuts on his upper body must have come when the attacker started to use the belt buckle instead. And of course the damage done to his face, is typical of blunt damage caused by a man's fist. We assume from the paramedic's report of the scene that the gash on his head was caused when he struck his head on the corner of some piece of furniture." When Buffy looked up, she saw a look of pride on the doctor's face. "You probably saved his life when you stopped the blood flow with your sleeves, as it was we had to give him a couple of pints of blood to replace what he lost."  
  
As Buffy, shuddered and sobbed against Giles's chest, Giles knew that the worst news was yet to come. "We were able to set all of his bones, and they should heal normally with minimal loss of motion or usage. His face will bear no permanent disfigurement, except for maybe a slightly crooked nose."  
  
Thinking that the worst of the news was over, Buffy looked up at the doctor with pleading eyes. "When can I go and see him? I want to be there when he wakes up."  
  
The doctor hung his head. "Of course you can go and see him shortly, but there's a chance he might never wake up. Your fiancée is in a coma."  



	13. Part XIII - Alone in the blackness.

Part XIII - "Alone in the blackness."  
  
PRESENT DAY  
  
Xander was gently rocking Buffy back and forth as she sobbed, the reliving of events past overwhelmed her past the point of control. Mentally though, he was reflecting upon a much darker time than Buffy had ever had to live through with her Xander. "Buff? I think you've told me enough for one night. You can tell me the rest some other time."  
  
Through her sobs, Buffy shook her head in the negative. "No Xander, I need to finish. 'Cause I don't think I can open these wounds up again anytime soon."  
  
Xander just nodded, and placed a loving kiss on her forehead. An action that didn't go unnoticed or unappreciated by the Slayer. "Thanks Xander, you always know what to do when I'm hurting." Then without thinking she placed a soft kiss on his lips. After the briefest of contact, which nonetheless made her heart race, she pulled back and returned to her spot on Xander's chest.  
  
"So once they finally let me back there to see you, I pretty much never left. Oh, they TRIED to get me out of that room, but they gave THAT idea up after I snapped the wrist of the guy who tried to manhandle me!" Buffy smiled happily as she heard and felt Xander's chuckles. Like a balm for her soul, when she looked up she saw the smile that she loved so well, the first real smile she'd seen from him since she started her tale.  
  
"So while you were... um, asleep, I held your hand and sometimes read to you. And when I got tired, I crawled up into bed with you and snuggled in. You know, that way if you woke up, you'd feel me there with you." Buffy blushed as he tilted her face up to meet his. His expression filled with love and gratitude just for her alone.  
  
Needing to do something before things got out of hand, he asked a question. "So Buffy, what did you read to me?"  
  
Grinning from ear to ear, she stroked his face tenderly. "Well, I figured that anything Giles would have me read to you would keep you in that coma! So I opted for a few Spider-Man comic books."  
  
Kissing her smiling lips a few times in succession, Buffy couldn't help but blush deeper when she saw the look of reverence he regarded her with. "You know me so well Buffy." Neither of them realizing that they were crossing subtle lines, erasing bit by bit the distinctions that separated each of them from the counterparts that they originally loved. Then suddenly Xander's expression clouded over in pain. "Were you the only one who visited me?"  
  
Buffy's smile brightened. "Oh, no! Every day the whole Scooby gang came over to sit with you for a while. Even Angel. Although, I told him he'd better not be looking at your neck for any length of time!" Looking into each other's eyes, they both burst out laughing. Xander laughed especially heartily after hearing Buffy echo the words the he'd once said to Dead-Boy himself. After a few moments they were able to get themselves back in control.  
  
"Anyway, there wasn't a moment that someone wasn't with you. And, with the exception of bathroom breaks and showers, I never left your side." Buffy shined proudly at this fact, and couldn't help but feel warm all over when Xander pulled her even tightly against him with a barely audible whimper of thanks.  
  
"So, what did you do about slaying?"  
  
Buffy absently traced circles with her fingernails on Xander's chest as she talked with him. "Well, after seeing what happened to the orderly, Giles decided that forcing me to leave your side was out, so he tried the guilt trip approach. And I told him that I just had three words for him. 'Go call Kendra'. Giles just started to make that clucking sound, I guess because he didn't think of it first. She arrived late that night, and about two days later you came out of the coma. She stayed and took over my slaying duties until you were well enough to check out of the hospital." Buffy paused, believing that she felt wetness on the back of her neck, but just as quickly shrugged it off as her imagination. "That day I found you lying unconscious confirmed everything I believed, that nothing in my life, not even slaying, was more important than you."  
  
Silence filled the air, until Buffy heard the sound of a muffled sob. Turning around, she saw more agony and pain in Xander's expression than her heart could bear. Silent sobs rocked his body as tears flowed like rivers from his eyes. So I DID feel wetness on the back of my neck! Softly and lovingly, Buffy started to wipe away Xander's tears with her thumb. "Xander? What's wrong?" Buffy wondered what she had said that could have brought out such anguish in Xander. "I'm sorry Xander, please tell me what I did wrong."  
  
The second he heard her say that, Xander's head shot up. Slowly he began to trace his fingers over her face as he shuddered with held in sobs. "It isn't anything you did Buffy. It's just that things happened a lot differently for me in my world. I wasn't nearly so lucky as your Xander. I didn't have you. I didn't have anyone. I was all alone."  
  
Buffy looked at Xander incredulously. "What do you mean you were alone?"  
  
Xander looked at Buffy with stricken, hurt-filled eyes. "What I mean IS, I was ALL ALONE! Do you know who called the paramedics that day? DO YOU?"  
  
Tears filled Buffy's eyes, the reason for Xander's outburst scaring her more than his raised tone. In a tiny voice, Buffy answered Xander's yelled question. "N... No, I... I don't Xander."  
  
Xander hung his head, his eyes closing tight as his chin dropped to rest on his chest. "I did."  
  
Buffy looked at him, her eyes wide. "You did? But how? When I found you that morning, you were out cold. There's no way you could have made that call."  
  
Xander spoke in a tired voice, that spoke volumes about the pain he'd suffered. "No, you're right, there's no way I could have placed that call that morning. But, I guess I could have around four o'clock that afternoon. That's when the 911 operators say I placed the call, and I suppose I was coherent enough to convince them to get their asses out there."  
  
Buffy had absolutely nothing to say. All she could do was sit there and listen with her hand over her mouth.  
  
"I don't even remember talking to the operator, my last real memory is punching in the right numbers. The next thing I remember is waking to an empty hospital room four days later. I looked around and there wasn't a soul around. And when the doctors finally came around to check on me, do you know how many visitors I'd had in three days? NONE! Not a damn soul even knew I was there."  
  
Hearing all this, Buffy had only one question to ask, but she wasn't sure that she really wanted to know the answer. So, she kept silent for a few seconds more.  
  
"You see, Giles let it inadvertently slip that everyone thought I was just slacking off, ditching school. And that everyone felt that they had more important things to do than keep tabs on me. One day I can understand, two is even forgivable, but three days? How little do you have to care about someone to not visit them for three days?"  
  
Buffy still couldn't think to ask the question burning at her heart, so she did what she could to comfort Xander as he poured his heart out to her. She let him speak as she kissed his tears away, hoping that each kiss would be a balm for the wounds of his soul.  
  
"Yeah, eventually Giles, Willow, and Oz found me, and each one constantly expressed their apologies for everything that had happened to me. But to me, the damage was done, I knew exactly how they felt about me by the three days I spent without a soul to hold my hand, or read me stories. Sure Oz and Willow expressed outward repentance, but soon enough, they left my room to go back to their lives. The only one I began to forgive was Giles, because he stayed there with me. Up until the day I was released. He was more of a father to me in those days than my real father ever had been."  
  
Buffy managed a small smile in spite of everything Xander was telling her. It seemed at least there was one person who cared about Xander. But again, there was one missing piece, the piece that held the reason behind the look of pain he'd shown when she told him how she was there for her own Xander. She had to know, and she had to know now. "Xander? Where were the others? You know, the rest of the Scooby Gang?"  
  
Even though he was suffering, hurting because he knew how it could have been. How things would have been different if not for a single choice, Xander's first instinct was to spare Buffy from pain. "Well, Dead-Boy wasn't there because he knew I didn't want him there. I'd hated him from the very moment I met him, and I was glad I didn't have to endure him while I was stuck in that damn hospital. And Cordelia, well I bear no ill will towards her, she had her reasons for not being there. And her reasons were completely valid."  
  
Xander shifted his eyes away from her. Anything to keep her from asking her next question. "Xander... where was I?"  
  
"You came by Buffy. You checked in with Giles and asked about me while you were getting your slaying assignments." Xander decided once again to protect Buffy with a lie. "I knew deep down, that you wanted to be there, but you had your duties."  
  
Buffy's eyes flashed with anger. "I know you Xander Harris, and you know good and well that nothing could have kept me from your side, save the world coming to an end! So where the hell was I?"  
  
Smiling ruefully, knowing that he couldn't slip one past her, he braced himself for her reaction. "You were with Angel."  
  
Buffy scrunched her nose up in disgust. "Angel? Why would I be with him, when my boyfriend was in the hospital?" Thinking for a minute, she asked an even more poignant question. "For that matter, why didn't I find you in your room?"  
  
Not committing to an answer, Xander basically gave her a repeat answer. "Like I said, you were with Angel."  
  
Buffy raised her voice in frustration. "WHY WAS I WITH HIM? Why wasn't I with you? I don't understand!"  
  
Xander simply sighed. "Because you were in love with him."  



	14. Part XIV - Prozac works on Slayers too.

Part XIV - "Prozac works on Slayers too."  
  
ON XANDER'S HOME EARTH  
  
Angel walked out of Giles's office, leaving Buffy sleeping peacefully on the couch behind him. As he fortified himself for the onslaught of questions that were to come, Willow and Oz were sitting next to each other looking towards him expectantly. Of course Willow was the first one to speak up. Angel sighed before he spoke. Willow always asked too many questions in these kinds of situations.  
  
"How is Buffy? And how did you finally get her to calm down?"  
  
Angel frowned when Willow asked her second question. He knew that neither she nor any of the others would like his answer. "Buffy's OK physically, she's just resting with a little chemical aid. Which, incidentally, is how I got her to calm down. I had to use a few of the darts for Oz's tranquilizer gun. And I'll have to say it takes quite a few of them to knock her out."  
  
Willow somehow was struck speechless for a few seconds. "Umm, ok, I guess you had to do SOMETHING to get her settled down." Mentally she shifted her gears to concentrate on what Buffy had been incoherently mumbling earlier in the night. "Since you took Buffy out of the running, you're the only one left who can clue the rest of us in on what she was babbling about!"  
  
"I'm not really sure. As you know, Buffy, Xander, Giles, and I were patrolling in the cemetery. At Buffy's insistence, we split into groups."  
  
Willow rolled her eyes. "Let me guess. You and Buffy were alone in a group right? Leaving Xander and Giles without a heavy hitter to patrol with?"  
  
Angel could only look guilty. "Well, Giles and Xander didn't protest."  
  
Willow smacked her forehead. "Well duh! Giles probably still hasn't forgiven you for what you've done. And Xander was probably just as happy to not see you and Buffy make goo-goo eyes at each other."  
  
Angel had nothing to say in reply, so he continued with his tale. "Well, it was pretty quiet until we got near the rendezvous point. Off in the distance, we could see five vampires surrounding Giles, Xander, and four other people. We were about to rush to their aid when four vampires jumped us. I could see that Xander's group was in trouble but there was nothing I could do to help them, seeing as I was occupied. But, you'll have to ask Buffy why she didn't help them. I never could get it out of her."  
  
Willow got up out of her seat with tears forming in her eyes. "Are you saying that you and Buffy let five vampires kill all of them?"  
  
Angel could only sigh in frustration. "That's just it. The vampires DIDN'T get them. Just as we were down to our last vampire, I saw this big flash of light, and this giant blue... vortex. All six of them jumped into it, and the next thing I knew, there wasn't a trace of any of them. "  
  
No matter how had she tried, Willow couldn't help but let a few tears fall. "So what happened? Did you even look for them?"  
  
Angel only looked defeated. "After we dusted all of the vampires that were still around, we searched right up until we came back here. And that's all I know."  
  
Willow collapsed into Oz's arms crying. "I just hope that Buffy wakes up in time to save Xander and Giles!"  
  
Angel muttered under his breath, "If she even can."  
  
*****  
  
ON THE ALTERNATE EARTH  
  
Buffy looked at Xander like he'd grown a second head. "I'm sorry, could you speak into my good ear?" She turned her head to the side dramatically. "Because I could have sworn you said I was in love with Angel!"  
  
Xander slowly slipped out from beneath Buffy leaving her alone on the chair. The memory of the past was too great and too recent to have her in that kind of proximity. He slowly walked over to the living room window facing the street. He leaned up against the frame with one arm propped above his head. "No Buffy, you heard me correctly, you were in love with Angel."  
  
Buffy looked like she was about to throw up. "What happened? Did you and I break up? I mean it MUST have been bad if I ended up with Angel. Because there is NO way I would have chosen him over you otherwise. Because the very thought of being with Angel is just WRONG! I mean... he's dead, it's... necrophilia!"  
  
Buffy looked on in aghast as she saw Xander's shoulders begin to hunch in silent sobs against the backlighting of the moon. "Xander?" Buffy turned Xander around by force to face her, and in that moment she saw the deep pain and rejection in his eyes.  
  
Tears streamed down Xander's face. "No, there wasn't a messy break up Buffy. Nothing like that at all."  
  
Buffy's eyebrows rose in confusion. "Then what happened Xander?"  
  
Xander only shook his head sadly and began to move towards the stairs. "I think it's time for you to show me where my room is Buffy."  
  
Buffy stood in his way and crossed her arms in defiance. "Not until you tell me what happened to us!"  
  
Xander was only able to meekly respond to her. "What 'us' Buffy? We never were together. Once Angel and his mysterious brooding caught your eye, all I ever was to you was your 'Xander-shaped friend'. Now show me to my room Buffy, I've dredged up enough bad memories of the past for one night."  
  
All Buffy could do was nod and numbly lead Xander to his room. All the while she was looking at him and thinking how much misery one person had to suffer before finding a small amount of happiness.  



	15. Part XV - Nothing warms the body... lik...

Part XV - "Nothing warms the body... like another warm body."  
  
Xander suddenly crashed back into the conscious world by the eerie feeling that he wasn't alone in his room. Afraid to let the intruder know that he was awake, he slowly opened one of his eyelids to take a quick peep. However, what he saw quickly caused both eyes to open. There, beside his outstretched hand was a mass of honey-blonde hair. From the looks of things, Buffy had pulled a chair up beside his bed on the side nearest to his sprawled out form. And apparently, sometime in the night, she'd fallen asleep with her head as near as she could get to part of his body without moving her butt from the chair. Xander moved his fingers around trying to get some circulation back in them when he felt some soft strands of silk brush against the pads of his fingers. So this is what woke me up! Buffy's hair must have fallen onto my hand when she fell asleep. Smiling at his opportunity to touch her hair without her knowing it, Xander began to gently rub that tendril of hair between his fingers. God. Her hair is so soft... I could play with it for days.   
  
Buffy was slowly brought back from a dreamless sleep to a feeling that she hadn't felt for a long, long time. She distinctly knew that touch and what it meant. Xander was playing with her hair. A small battle waged inside of her, warring between pretending to be asleep and reveling in the touch of a man her soul burned for, or waking up, and finding out what he had in store for her.  
Before she could stretch out and let him know she was awake, she heard Xander begin to speak in a voice that was just barely audible. She decided that she dared not move a muscle, else she break the mood.  
  
Xander stroked the tendril of Buffy's hair reverently, almost as if by touching her he was breaking some sort of universal law. "It's just so not fair. It seems like every world in the universe has it out for Xander Harris. I have to watch the only woman I'll ever love in the embrace of another man, while the Xander of this world gets all I've hoped and dreamed about and gets murdered. Why can't I just love you like I want to Buffy? Even though he's gone now, I would have given anything to trade places with him, if only to have a short time loving you."  
  
Buffy was certainly happy that she wasn't anywhere close to facing Xander, otherwise the tears streaking down her face would have given her away. Her heart was breaking inside for Xander, and she felt that she had only scraped the surface of his pain. He sounded like a lost little lamb, all alone and scared. And damn it, she was tired of being alone too. Slowly she leaned her head into his hand, allowing him full access to her golden hair.  
  
Even though he was surprised beyond belief that she'd pressed her head into his hand, he couldn't help but take the opportunity that she was giving him. "How long have you been awake?"  
  
Buffy had to even out her tone to hide the tears she'd been shedding. "Long enough."  
  
Xander realized what she meant, and quickly withdrew his hand in embarrassment. "I'm... I'm sorry Buffy. I... I saw you sitting there asleep, and your hair was so soft. And..."  
  
Buffy placed a manicured finger against his lips, signaling for him to be quiet. Of course, she let her finger linger on his lips a little longer than necessary, a touch becoming a caress. "It's OK, Xander. I didn't mind one bit. In fact I loved the feel of you playing with my hair. I could get used to it again you know." Buffy turned her head around to face Xander, and flashed him a million-watt smile.  
  
"It's kind of a new experience to wake up with you next to me, so to speak. So, I was wondering, to what do I owe the privilege of you in my bed?" Xander wiggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.  
  
"Well, I was worried about you when you went to bed, so after I heard you start to snore, I came in to watch you sleep. You know, to see how you were doing."  
Xander grinned at her, knowing that were the situation reversed he would have done exactly the same. "So, how long did you watch me?"  
  
Buffy could only blush and hide her head in her arms. "Umm, maybe three hours?"  
Xander's eyebrows rose skyward and he patted the expanse of space beside him on the bed. "So all that time I was fast asleep, how come you didn't join me when you got tired?"  
  
Buffy blushed. "Well, I did think about it... I just didn't know how you'd feel about waking up with me laying next to you."  
  
"Well it'd be like something out of a very surreal, but very wonderful dream." Xander felt like a million bucks when he saw her face light up with his compliment. "Besides Buff, it CAN'T be comfortable sleeping like that."  
  
Buffy sat up and stretched out like a cat, trying to work the kinks out of her back. When her eyes returned to Xander's, she blushed deeply when she saw the way he was looking at her, not to mention where he was looking. His eyes were glued to her chest, made more prominent by her arched back, and the look in his eyes was one very familiar to her. It was the one her Xander gave her, right before he ripped all of her clothes off of her and ravaged her body.  
  
Xander could see her flushing and could only imagine what could be making her temperature rise so much. Not knowing what else to do, Xander opened his arms up, a clear signal for Buffy to climb in with him.  
  
Buffy was snuggled in his arms quicker than Xander could blink his eyes.  
  



	16. Part XVI - The power of a mother's love...

Part XVI - "The power of a mother's love."  
  
As usual during the school term, Joyce was up and about at 5:30, making sure that everything was ready for her children to start the day off right. There was a time, not so long ago, when she had only one child, her daughter Buffy. But not long after moving to this oft-cursed town of Sunnydale, Joyce found herself a second child. The boy wasn't of her womb, but she loved him all the same, if not more. She wasn't sure if that extra amount of love came from knowing that her daughter was head over heels in love with him, and he was sure to be a son-in-law if Buffy had any say in it, or because of the kind of boy Xander was in spite of how sorry his own parents were. She'd always wanted Hank to give her a son, but because of various circumstances that never happened. But, when Xander and Buffy fell in love, she got the son she'd always wanted in him, and in return she gained the love that only a son could give the woman he called 'Mom'.   
  
She hadn't raised him from infancy, like his biological mom did, but in many ways she had. Physically Xander was sixteen, but thanks to the emotional abuse he'd suffered at the hands of his father and mother, he was still a child, scared and wondering why nobody cared, and why mommy and daddy didn't love him. She saw that child the very first day she rose her voice to him. For the life of her, she couldn't remember now what she was upset for, but she did know that it wan't for anything serious, just one of those things that a mother sometimes gets upset about. But when she saw the hurt and fear in his eyes that day, it made her wonder how on Earth a grown man could be scared of a woman that didn't even reach his shoulders. After that day, she was constantly after Buffy to find out why Xander was afraid of her, but Buffy told her that it was Xander's and only Xander's secret to tell. So for two years, Joyce wondered about the hidden pain that only surfaced now and again, until that day six months ago when the source of his pain was laid so awfully bare.  
  
When the phone rang and the Caller ID box displayed "Sunnydale Memorial", Joyce feared that her worst dream had come true, that her daughter had been grievously injured in her duties as the Slayer. But when she heard the frantic voice of her daughter on the other end she was relieved, but that feeling was fleeting once she found out that her second worst fear had come true. Her son was hanging onto life by a thin thread. And what hurt Joyce more, was that there was no demon to slay, or any other supernatural source that her daughter could exact justice from. Because Joyce just realized that the bruises that Xander wore like a badge of courage, came not from patrolling with Buffy, but from the hands of a drunken coward, someone that in another place and another time Xander might have proudly called 'Dad'.  
  
Looking back, Joyce was glad that Buffy was still in too much shock to realize fully who was responsible for Xander's condition, because Joyce knew she'd have had one child in the hospital, and the other in jail for Murder One. Who could have thought that a father could have inflicted such trauma on his own son? But that bastard got his in the end, a long prison term in a jail whose population didn't look too kindly on child abusers. A severe beating would probably be the best that he could hope for. But whatever he got, he'd earned in spades.  
  
Out of motherly habit, she opened the door to Buffy's room to check and see if the bed had even been slept in. Smiling to herself knowingly, she saw that the bed was completely empty and untouched. Of course, Joyce never did have to tell Buffy to make her bed in the six months since Xander moved in. That would require Buffy actually using it. And she hadn't really slept alone since her seventeenth birthday anyway. She supposed that most mothers would have been irate with some of the 'activities' that Buffy and Xander engaged in under her roof. But of course, most mothers didn't see the love that Xander had for Buffy, and her for him, either. She knew that Xander would undergo fourty painful deaths before he harmed one little hair on Buffy's head.  
  
Knowing exactly what she'd see, Joyce nonetheless slowly opened the door to Xander's room, formerly known as the 'guest' room. Once the door was no longer blocking her view, Joyce had to smile. In the middle of the bed, was Xander laying on his back and sprawled out in what Joyced liked to think was typical Xander-fashion. And there as close as a human body could get to another lay her daugher. Her head was tucked up underneath Xander's chin, and her honey blonde hair seemed to flow out in waves over Xander's chest. Surprising enough, she could see both of Xander's AND both of Buffy's hands. Smirking a bit, she scanned the room for any various articles of clothing. No clothes strewn about, must have been a tame night. She had to cover her mouth to stifle the chuckles THAT thought brought about. Buffy's right arm was streached over Xander's body and her hand was entertwined with his. Her left hand seemed to be tucked under her and resting on Xander's right shoulder. And it seemed with every breath he took, even while unconscious, he pulled Buffy closer to him with his left arm.  
  
How could she object to those two sharing the same bed? Not even when her and Hank were having the best of times did she ever look half as content or happy as Buffy and Xander. What the hell, they've been through a lot lately, I'll give them five more minutes. And just as silently as she opened the door, Joyce shut it.  



	17. Part XVII - Waking up in a stranger's a...

Part XVII - "Waking up in a stranger's arms... isn't all that bad."  
  
Joyce closed the door as quietly as she could, but even the soft click it made when it closed was enough to wake Buffy up from her slumber. Buffy mentally cursed her enhanced Slayer hearing for once again driving her out of the dream world. Lately, it seemed like the moment when she woke up was, both the happiest and most depressing moment of her entire day. In her dreams, she could be with Xander, just like he'd never disappeared. And, ever since that first day of school when he so shyly brushed an errant lock of hair out of her face, she knew that he could make her happy. Happy, as in the 'death do us part' kind of happy. It was for that very reason, when her dreams dissolved into reality, that her heart broke all over again. Because every morning, she faced reality. The reality that Xander was never there, and the chest she lay on, was only a pile of pillows that she had hugged to herself in the middle of the night.  
  
So it was with trepidation that Buffy slowly fluttered open her eyelashes. But once her eyes adjusted, her face lit up with a megawatt smile. At that moment, Buffy's dreams and reality merged into one, and broke the morning cycle of hope followed by heartbreak. Suddenly she knew that she hadn't dreamed the events of the night before. Her lips pressed against the hollow of Xander's neck in a silent 'thank you', for the form that she snuggled up to even tighter now was no pillow, but a flesh-and-blood Xander.  
  
Carefully, pulled her arm out from under Xander, trying her best not to wake him. Once her hand was free, she tried to flex it, wincing at the pins and needle feeling from it being asleep. After a couple of seconds of flexing, Buffy propped her head on her palm so she'd have a good vantage point to watch Xander sleep. Thanks to him being such a heavy sleeper, coupled with the fact that he didn't have enhanced Slayer hearing, Buffy was usually the first one awake in the morning. As their love grew deeper, she also grew to cherish these times as a chance to just watch her lover without him knowing it. Slowly she traced her eyes over his face, his stubble casting his face into shadows. Buffy got a slight twinkling in her eye as she looked at Xander's upper body. I didn't get much of a chance to look him over last night, but wow! I guess there ARE differences between the universes, because this Xander is a lot more muscular than I remember.   
  
Unable to resist the little naughty voice in her head, Buffy began to move the hand that was previously intertwined with Xander's across his chest. Buffy closed her eyes, letting her sense of touch tell her all she needed to know. Slowly she began to lower her hand, letting her fingertips brush across the rippling muscles of his abdomen.  
  
Before she could listen to the voices that were daring her to go lower, chuckling from the object of her affections interrupted her. "You know, Buff, you don't have to wait till I'm asleep to take advantage of me."  
  
Buffy could only duck her head a little, but Xander saw the blush rising up her neck. "In fact, I can guarantee taking advantage of me would be much more fruitful when I'm wide awake and responsive." Noticing how cute she was when she blushed, he decided to go for the masterstroke. He lifted the sheet with his hand and made a show of looking under it. "Of course, I don't have to be awake for THAT to be responsive to your touch."  
  
Buffy blushed an even deeper shade of red, if that were possible, and lightly slapped Xander on the chest. "Xan-DER! I can see that SOME things don't change no matter WHAT universe you are from!" Buffy grinned to herself, knowing that the best way to make Xander blush was to just send some innuendo of her own back his way.   
  
She made it obvious to Xander that she was looking around the room, but for what, he hadn't a clue. Finally, after a few seconds of looking around the room, and then looking at herself, Buffy met Xander's eyes again with a mischievous smirk. "You know, we have a lot more clothes on than we usually do when we share a bed. Usually, we almost have to have a search party to find out where we tossed our things the night before." Unable to resist taking her teasing to the next level, Buffy punctuated her word by running a finger down between Xander's pecs.  
  
Smiling that half-smile that never failed to melt Xander, she leaned in close to his face, her lips only a breath apart. "You know, it's been too long since I've had a good morning kiss from you. I just can't get through the day without one." And before Xander could say anything in response, she had already closed the distance between their lips, and sealed their mouths together.  
  
She only meant for it to be a chaste kiss, but the longer her lips had contact with Xander's, the deeper the kiss became. Forgetting everything but his mouth on hers, Buffy instinctively climbed on top of Xander, her thighs straddling his waist. Slowly she began to grind against him as their tongues danced together.   
  
She was about to reach for the hem of her tank top when she heard the tinkling giggles of her mom in the doorway behind her. "There's no time for THAT kiddos! Breakfast is ready, and you haven't gotten your showers yet. So get up!" Joyce turned around to go back downstairs. Just as she was walking down the stairs, she called back to Buffy and Xander. "And no sharing the shower! You'll have to make up for lost time later!"  
  
Buffy giggled and slowly slid off Xander. "Mmm, too bad. Shower time equals wet naked fun time. And I've never been one to turn down naked time with you." And with a wink, Buffy crawled out of bed and walked to her bathroom, making sure to add a little extra sway to her step. As soon as she got out of sight she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, a smile lighting up her face.  
  
Xander was still sitting upright in bed, a stunned look on his face. "I'm NEVER leaving this place!"  
  



	18. Part XVIII - Dance the little dance of i...

Part XVIII - "Dance the little dance of intimacy."  
  
While Xander watched Buffy saunter off to the bathroom, another couple was also meeting the California sunrise. Sitting on the balcony of their hotel room, Quinn closed his eyes and smiled as he heard the sounds of the balcony door sliding open and soft footsteps moving towards his lounge chair. The scent of jasmine in the air immediately identified the visitor to his senses,   
as if he didn't already know who it was. He knew that person as well as he knew himself, her presence surrounding him like a warm blanket. His eyes popped open at the onset of a new scent, that of a hot mug of coffee. Gratefully taking the mug, Quinn looked up and met the eyes of the woman who'd won his heart, Maggie. As she slid into his lap, he was reminded that it wasn't so long ago that he had to hide his feelings from this beautiful creature. A beautiful creature who was impishly grinning at him as she ground her ass into his lap.  
  
"Mmm, I see THAT got your attention!" Lifting herself gently off of Quinn's lap, Maggie looked down and started to giggle. "Of course, it looks like some parts are more attentive than others!"  
  
"Well, some parts happen to like you more than others. Sometimes they even like you four times in one night, but I'm not bragging or anything." Quinn gave her a smug look as he pulled her back to his lap, his arms firmly wrapped around her waist.  
  
"Of course you're not my love, you'd have to perform that feat more than once a year to brag." Maggie tried to keep a straight face, but failed utterly when she saw how far Quinn's jaw had dropped. "I'm just kidding honey! But honestly, after last night, I didn't think you'd be up for any 'quality time' for quite some time." Slowly she began to rock back and forth, her legs now straddling Quinn's lap. "And you know what? There are times that I am more than happy to be proven wrong."  
  
Quinn moved his hands from around her slim waist to the knot in her hotel robe. "Well by all means, let me show you how utterly mistaken you were, Maggie."  
She could only smile with bliss as he undid the knot on her robe.  
  
*****   
  
As Xander stepped out of the shower, he was only slightly disappointed to see that Buffy wasn't leaning against the sink, waiting to appraise 'naked alternate-universe Xander'. With surprise, he did notice that some clothes had been laid out for him across the vanity. They looked very stylish, much like the clothes Cordy always wanted him to wear.  
  
Even then, he knew that he'd look good in the clothes, so good that he always secretly wanted to give into Cordy and change his wardrobe. But, he never did give in. He couldn't. Cordelia never wanted him to change his outfit out of love for him, it was an utterly selfish motive on her part. She was ashamed of how he dressed, so she tried to change him so she would feel better about dating him.  
  
He got the feeling that Buffy changed his wardrobe so she could show him off to everyone. It was kind of the same thing that Cordelia wanted, but the motives were different. Xander was sure that Buffy wanted to show all the girls in Sunnydale that the Xander Harris they shunned, was a hottie in disguise. Xander could tell that this Buffy knew his inner handsomeness, and it was her pleasure to taunt everyone with what they couldn't have. Yeah, it was semantics, but the fact that Buffy loved him, and loved him no matter what made all the difference in the world.  
  
The tank top that she'd picked out for him was normal enough, if not a bit tight. But the jeans caught him by surprise. They were tight as hell, and he could swear that they felt a bit threadbare in the ass region. He wasn't given any more time to check it out before Buffy came bursting into the bathroom. Before he could say or do anything, her lips were on his. As soon as the kiss began, her lips were off his, and he was being turned around.  
  
"If I didn't know better, you look even better in those jeans than I remember." With his back still turned to her she quickly grabbed his ass with both hands. "Very nice. I've always liked how those jeans looked on you." Giving his butt one last squeeze she exited the bathroom. "Mom wanted me to tell you that breakfast was ready." Quickly she peeked back around the door frame. "By the way, you taste yummy in the morning."  
  
Xander hummed all the way down the stairs.  



End file.
